Category: Sufism

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

All praise belongs to Allah – The Lord of the Worlds – and Peace and Blessings be upon His Final Messenger and His Beloved, The Chosen One ﷺ.

Know that what is befalling the ummah today, is of Biblical proportions. It is no longer a mere virus – but rather, a pandemic that is visiting almost every house in every city in every country in the entire world. As we are inundated with unfolding information, we have to remain pragmatic. But know that not a blade of grass moves without the Will of Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ. We must therefore have utmost trust upon Allah. We need tawakkul – reliance and faith upon Allah, but with it, we need to heed the advice given such as social distancing measures, as the Prophet ﷺ told us to first tie our camel, then have faith upon Allah. Meaning, we must try our best to prevent us from contracting this virus. Conviction needs to be coupled with action, just as hope alone or fear alone, is unbalanced and will lead to ruin.

This life is a journey that we all need to traverse in order to reach our ultimate destination; death, practically, as that is the end of all actions for us.

Yet, the Prophet ﷺ cautioned against exerting one’s self in this journey. He likened it to a horse who has a set amount of distance to traverse. If the rider attempts to finish the journey considerably faster, he will end up breaking his horse and be stranded. This characteristic is called josh in Urdu and means extreme enthusiasm. The Qur’an also cautions us against such extremes and asks us to take the “middle path” (Qur’an, 2:143).

BY the grace of the Almighty, this week has ushered in a new moon. One that is among four that have been sanctified by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala. This is the seventh month of the Islamic calendar; this is Rajab al-Murajjab.